Women with these type of breasts could have cancer missed by routine nhs scans

WOMEN WITH DENSE BREAST TISSUE COULD SOON BE OFFERED EXTRA SCANS ON THE NHS AFTER LANCET STUDY SHOWS CANCERS CAN REMAIN "HIDDEN" DURING REGULAR MAMMOGRAMS 23:30, 21 May 2025 Better

breast cancer screening could identify 3,500 more cancerous lumps every year and save hundreds of lives, research shows. A new study in the Lancet has shown that two extra scans for women

with dense breasts can pick up early-stage cancers that remain "hidden" during regular mammograms. Cambridge University scientists say these additional scans - which make blood

vessels more visible during mammograms - should be offered as they would more than treble cancer detection. Around 10% of women have very dense breasts, which means they have more fibrous

and glandular tissue and less fatty tissue. Study lead Professor Fiona Gilbert, of Cambridge University and honorary consultant radiologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital, said:

"Getting a cancer diagnosis early makes a huge difference for patients in terms of their treatment and outlook. READ MORE: NHS releases new list of changes to look out for in body which

may be cancer - FULL LIST "We need to change our national screening programme so we can make sure more cancers are diagnosed early, giving many more women a much better chance of

survival." Article continues below Those with dense breasts are already known to face a four-fold increased risk of breast cancer compared to women without. At the moment denser breasts

look whiter on mammograms so standard scans cannot pick up all cancers. Early-stage cancers also appear white, meaning they are difficult to distinguish. The BRAID trial was carried out on

9,361 women across the UK who have dense breasts and had a negative mammogram result. When additional scanning methods were offered an extra 85 cancers were found. The UK National Screening

Committee is reviewing this evidence and it could result in woman with dense breast tissue being offered extra scans on the NHS. LOUISE'S STORY _Louise Duffield, age 60, was diagnosed

with early-stage breast cancer as a result of the trial. The grandmother-of-four was invited to participate in 2023 following her regular mammogram screening, which showed that she had very

dense breasts. As part of the trial, Louise had an AB-MRI scan which identified a small lump deep inside one of her breasts._ _Louise, from Ely, in Cambridgeshire, said: “When they rang to

say they’d found something, it was a big shock. You start thinking all sorts of things but, in the end, I just thought, at least if they’ve found something, they’ve found it early. The staff

were brilliant, and so supportive.”_ _Soon after the MRI, Louise had a biopsy that confirmed she had stage 0 - very early - breast cancer within the ducts of one of her breasts. Six weeks

later Louise underwent surgery to remove the tumour, during that time the tumour had already grown larger than it appeared on the scans._ _The location of Louise’s tumour meant it would have

been difficult for her to find it through self-examination, and since it was not detected during her regular mammogram it would have been at least three years before she was invited for

another._ _Louise said: “It’s been a stressful time and it’s a huge relief to have it gone. The team have been fantastic throughout. The tumour was deep in the breast so, if I hadn’t been on

the trial, it could have gone unnoticed for years. I feel very lucky, it almost doesn’t feel like I’ve really had cancer. Without this research I could have had a very different

experience.”_ READ MORE: Weight loss jabs like Wegovy and Mounjaro may have anti-cancer effect 'beyond weight loss' The two extra scanning methods examined in the trial were

contrast enhanced mammography (CEM), where dye is used to make blood vessels more visible, and abbreviated magnetic resonance imaging (AB-MRI), which is faster than a regular MRI. The

experts calculated that adding either of these methods to existing breast screening could detect 3,500 more cancers per year in the UK. Researchers said that because screening reduces death

for about 20% of cancers detected and this could mean an extra 700 lives saved each year. Leading screening expert Professor Stephen Duffy, from Queen Mary University, London, said:

"The NHS breast screening programme has made a huge difference to many lives. Thanks to these results, we can see that the technology exists to make screening even better, particularly

for the 10% of women with dense breast tissue." Dr David Crosby, head of prevention and early detection at Cancer Research UK, said: "This study shows that making blood vessels

more visible during mammograms could make it much easier for doctors to spot signs of cancer in women with dense breasts. More research is needed to fully understand the effectiveness of

these techniques, but these results are encouraging." A third scanning method used in the trial - automated whole breast ultrasound (ABUS) - also picked up cancers but was much less

effective than CEM and AB-MRI. Overall, per 1,000 women scanned, CEM detected 19 cancers, while AB-MRI found 17 and ABUS found four. With mammograms already detecting around eight cancers

per 1,000 women with dense breasts, additional scans could therefore more than treble breast cancer detection. The trial was funded by Cancer Research UK with support from the National

Institute for Health and Care Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre. Dr Kotryna Temcinaite, of charity Breast Cancer Now, said: "The UK National Screening Committee now needs to

consider this research as part of their current review to determine whether women with very dense breasts should be offered additional imaging during their routine screening. If the UK

National Screening Committee recommends additional imaging for screening women with very dense breasts, we'll push for those changes to be rolled out as quickly as possible across the

UK. "Routine breast screening is the most likely route to finding breast cancer early, when treatment is most likely to be successful. While we know that the current process can be less

effective in detecting cancers in dense breasts, we still encourage all women to attend mammogram screening when invited." Article continues below A Department for Health and Social

Care spokesperson said: "Research is being conducted into the use of additional tests for women with dense breasts, as part of the NHS breast screening programme. The UK National

Screening Committee is reviewing this evidence as it becomes available."